Iraq's Oil—a Brief History of 20th Century Exploration and Speculations on the Future

John Scott¹, Augustus Wilson², and Grenville Lunn^1
1 Petroleum Geological Analysis Ltd, N/A, TX
² SGS, N/A, TX

When Iraq emerged after WWI under British mandate, rights were granted in 1925 to the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), a western consortium. In 1927 Baba Gurgur-1, the fifth structure to be drilled by the IPC in northern Iraq, established the 17 billion barrel Kirkuk field, blowing wild at 90,000 BOPD from fractured Tertiary limestones. Prior to WWII, other wildcats were drilled but no giants discovered. After the war, exploration in the south led to further giant discoveries in Cretaceous clastics including Rumaila and Zubair. The IPC's exploration activities ceased with cancellation of the exploration licenses in 1961, although the company continued to produce until nationalization in the 1970's. During this phase to 1961, 62 structures were drilled with 35 discoveries of varying economic importance.

Between 1964 and 1993, despite two wars, the Iraqi national companies with some foreign partners found 38 fields. These were mostly in Cretaceous and Tertiary reservoirs and include giants such as East Baghdad and West Qurna as well as several smaller pools. New plays, such as the Lower Paleozoic at Akkaz in the west were also proven. Virtually no exploration has occurred since 1993. A close look at the 20th century provides a basis for assessing what the 21st may offer, including the under explored but prospective pre Cretaceous.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005